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McALLEN — At 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, an American Airlines Airbus with an American flag painted rudder sliced through overcast sky — slowly descending in front of a small crowd of veterans, local law enforcement and family members — before touching down on the tarmac at McAllen International Airport.
“Is that him?” asked a woman in the crowd, wearing a white T-shirt with a black and white portrait of a young man in a U.S. Army Service Uniform. A nearby airport employee nodded.
With the confirmation, a look of excitement overcame the woman and those around her wearing similar shirts. That excitement soon turned to tears as the significance of the moment slowly manifested.
As the plane taxied to its terminal, it was met with a water salute from airport fire trucks. Inside the cargo of the plane were the remains of Sgt. Cresenciano Garcia Jr., of Laredo. And for the first time in over 70 years, he was home.
Garcia’s homecoming has been long overdue. He was with the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division when he was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950 following a battle just south of Kunu-ri in South Korea.
He was held in a prisoner of war camp in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and officially declared dead on February 28, 1951. He was 22.
“We’re gathered here to perform a ceremony,” Raul L. Munguia, who serves as Commander of VFW Post 8788, said prior to the arrival of Garcia’s remains. “We’re preparing honors for our fallen comrade. We do that for all of our comrades. They deserve honors when they pass away, especially in combat.”
Munguia, along with several other members of his VFW post, were present to help welcome Garcia’s remains home with a short ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, the folding of the flag and the playing of Taps.
Ceremonies honoring fallen veterans are a common occurrence for Munguia and his fellow veterans, but Wednesday’s ceremony was unique given Garcia’s situation.
“This is a rarity in the sense that Sergeant Garcia was a prisoner of war in Korea,” Munguia said. “He was deceased in Korea and his remains were lost. It wasn’t until recently — we’re talking about 70 years now — that they found his remains, identified him and brought him home. This doesn’t happen often at all.”
Through Operation GLORY in 1954, he along with other war dead were exchanged between the United States and North Korea. However, his remains were unable to be identified.
Garcia’s remains, designated X-14189, along with all the unidentified Korean War remains, were transported to “the Punchbowl,” the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, and buried as “unknowns” in 1956.
In the decades since his interment, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has worked tirelessly to identify him and his fellow fallen comrades. This year, they had a breakthrough.
That breakthrough came after Garcia’s remains were exhumed on Dec. 9, 2019 and tested for DNA. That DNA came from his niece, Sophia Garnett Perez, who donated her DNA in 2016.
Her daughters Cynthia Perez and Veronica Recio, of East Chicago, Indiana were on hand to receive Garcia’s remains along with his nieces Margarita Jimenez, 82, and Norma Alamillo, 80, and other relatives who have continued to keep his memory alive.
“I cried. I was finally relieved. It’s like closure,” Perez recalled about learning that her great uncle had finally been located and identified. “Growing up, my grandmother, Carmen Garnett, she did talk about her brother and what happened. She always had his photo on the end table.
“It’s been many, many years that he’s been gone,” Recio said. “Learning now that we found him, it’s just so exciting and overwhelming.”
Garcia was officially identified on April 25 of this year. Their mother, Sophia, was not able to learn about her uncle’s identification. She passed away in November 2019.
“It’s been 73 years. I didn’t ever think it was going to happen,” Perez said, her voice shaking as she recalled the identification process.
“Thank God for technology,” Recio added.
A white hearse was there to help transport Garcia’s remains to Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapels & Cremation Services in his hometown of Laredo. Helping to escort Garcia’s remains, along with representatives from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, the McAllen Police Department, CBP and Border Patrol agents, were a number of veterans on motorcycles.
It was a show of support that is commonly seen at such ceremonies.
“Many people think that the worst thing about life is losing your life, especially in defense of this country,” former Texas VFW State Adjutant Lupita Perez said. “It is definitely a sad thing, but to me the worst part is being forgotten. The fact is that organizations like ours, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, it is our mission to make sure that these veterans are never forgotten and that their names are always spoken. It’s always at the forefront — us knowing what these veterans gave. They gave their life, their everything.”
Garcia will be buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Laredo on Saturday.
